Our Leadership Team

The Leadership team at Neev Academy is a large network of individuals and teams, working together to ensure that students are receiving the best possible educational experience every day.
The senior leadership teams consist of the Educational Leadership Team (ELT) and the Operations Leadership Team (OLT)

Educational Leadership Team (ELT)

Dr. Aloha Lavina

Head of School

Shanthi Raghunath

Head Primary School

Gouri Kar

Head Senior School

Umar Jaffar

Advisor

Soumya Anil

PYP Coordinator

Ipsita Mishra

MYP Coordinator

Colin Leslie Kelman

DP Coordinator

Operations Leadership Team

Vandana Aragula

Head of Special Projects

Vivek Chowhan

Head of Administration

Melanie Britto

Head of Human Resources

Swapnili Tewari

Head of Finance

Admissions Leadership

Aparna Singh

Head of Enrolment and Parent Engagement

Ms. Gouri Kar

Head Senior School

"I believe in an education that will create intrinsic motivation to all students by providing opportunities to stimulate their passion for learning. I should be able to provide students with a nurturing and enriching environment."

Ms. Gouri holds a Master’s degree in Geography and Bachelor’s degree of Arts specialised in Geography, English and Political Science from Lucknow University and was awarded certificate of merit for distinction in Geography. She has also completed Bachelor in Education from MES Teacher’s College, Bangalore University. Ms. Gouri last worked at Redbridge International Academy, Bangalore as ‘Academic Coordinator’. Before which she was with National Public School, HSR as Social Science Teacher, teaching higher grades. She also gained experience in IB teaching at Indus International School as a Geography Teacher. She was a lead teacher for grade 8 and was handling responsibilities of Areas of Interaction Coordinator for Middle Years Programme. Her early teaching years were with St. Francis Xavier Girls High School, Bangalore and St. Agnes Loreto High School, Lucknow as Geography Teacher. Ms Gouri joined Neev Academy in 2014.

Ms. Shanthi Raghunath

Head Primary School

"I believe in simple, enjoyable, and effective learning. Learning should be simplified so; students can make the connection, consolidate and sustain learning. Students should be intrinsically and extrinsically motivated to take on challenges to build knowledge and understanding of the world. Thus, create path to be lifelong learners."

Ms. Shanthi began her teaching career wanting to explore young minds and understand how they learn, at the Air Force school, Kumbhigram, Silchar [Assam]. As a part of the Air force culture she learned to adapt and grow in a new environment. After moving to Bangalore, for 2 years she worked as a K1 teacher, at Presidency school before moving to Neev in 2008. At Neev she began her career as a K2 teacher at the Whitefield branch. In 2011, when Neev started Grade 1, she took over as the Grade 1 teacher. 3 years later moved to Grade 2 and eventually became the grade level coordinator for Grade 1 and 2, before becoming the Lower Elementary Coordinator. As a part of teaching and learning she has conducted workshops for teachers on Classroom Management, Co-teaching and Making Thinking Visible. Her interest in Math drove her to understand the math curriculum and explore teaching math through inquiry, while maintaining the rigour. She has created Math Modules to present the same to the teachers. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree of Arts form St. Francis College, Hyderabad and a teaching diploma from Cambridge International Diploma for Teachers and Learners, UK.

Ms. Ipsita Mishra

MYP Coordinator

“I truly believe in the kind of education that will develop the skills and build conceptual understanding of students to create lifelong learners. True education helps children demonstrate their creativity, become compassionate and curious learners with an eventual goal to grow as unique individuals who are responsible not only for themselves, but also towards the larger community. I firmly believe in the MYP curriculum and its ability to bring these values in the students that would contribute towards making them an individual global citizen."

Ms. Ipsita joined Neev in June 2016 as a teacher of humanities before which she worked in Greenwood High International School as History teacher. Ipsita has over a decade of teaching experience in various international schools in Bengaluru. She is also a Certified Examiner for IBO for IBDP History and Extended Essay. She enjoys painting, reading books and travelling.

Mr. Colin Leslie Kelman

DP Coordinator

“I believe strongly in the primacy of the ethical dimension of education; we shape human beings and our shared culture by the decisions we make about the knowledge and attitudes we develop in our students.”

Colin has been a teacher in the middle school, high school, in pre-university programmes and undergraduate programmes where he has taught English language, literature, theory of knowledge, literary criticism and phonetics. His experience beyond that of a DP coordinator includes work as a Head of Department, IGCSE coordinator and examiner in Theory of Knowledge and English with the IB. His education at various levels includes studying English literature, psychology and linguistics. After earning his post-graduate degree in English, inclusive of linguistics and literature, his work on the editing of prose writings of the English renaissance led to a research degree in English. Above all else, Colin loves to read and teach the love of reading, especially close reading. He is particularly partial to poetry, travel writing.

Ms. Soumya Anil

PYP Coordinator

“As a facilitator, I see education being most effective when it is learner centric. It should be driven by the child’s own curiosity, where the child takes complete ownership for enriching one’s learning, understanding significant ideas, working towards individual goals and moulding themselves into resilient life long learners. It is upto us, to facilitate and equip them with the necessary tools of strong inquiry base and learning practices. We should focus, on what works best to help them master a range of skills, develop personal attitudes and most importantly, emerge as compassionate human beings.”

Ms. Soumya holds a Master’s in Management Studies (Marketing) and a Bachelor’s in Life Sciences and Chemistry from Mumbai University. She also holds a Bachelor’s in Education degree from Al-Ameen College of Education, Bangalore University. After a brief corporate stint, Ms. Soumya began her teaching career by teaching the ICSE curriculum in the subjects of Biology, English and Social Studies to the high school students of Parikrama Humanity Foundation, Bangalore. She started at Neev Academy, teaching Maths, Novel Study and Units of Inquiry for Grade 5. She later moved to the MYP (Middle Years Program) to teach Individuals and Societies to Grades 6 and 7. At present, she handles the role of PYP coordinator and teaches Grade 5. She joined Neev Academy in 2013.

Vandana Aragula

Head Special Projects

"As an Educator, I believe in inculcating positive relationship in students, teachers and administrators who will foster and embrace every child. I will empower the whole school community to think critically and evaluate every child based on their strengths and areas of struggle, to create a supportive culture where respect, open communication and holding academic excellence are the keys to success of a school."

Ms. Vandana Aragula holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Bachelor’s Degree in Education specialised in English and History. She is a Certified Early Childhood Educator from San Jose City College, California. She also holds a Diploma in Cambridge International Teachers Training (CIDTT). Before she entered the teaching career, she has been in the corporate world running her own company in the US for 8 years. She brings with her several years of experience in the field of Early Childhood and Primary Years education. She has also been a teacher in higher grades (Grade 6, 7, 8) teaching English, History and Geography. She has worked in schools in the US both in Early and Primary Years. Her last stint was with VIBGYOR as a Primary Coordinator. Ms. Vandana joined Neev Academy in January, 2012 as an Educator and now continues to works with Neev as Head Special Projects.

Vivek Chowhan

Head of Administration

“As a School Administrator I am committed to maintaining a clean and green environment in the School Campus to bring in social consciousness that promote healthy and safety of students, teachers and the whole school community”

Mr. Vivek Chowhan has an overall experience of 30 years in the area of Administration, Operations & Facilities Management across varied industries - Real Estate, Hotels , Software & IT Infrastructure , Petroleum and Fertilizers. His responsibilities are providing overall guidance to the Admin team to manage Academy & Pre-Schools and to ensure smooth operations in terms of Admin & Facilities , Transport , Catering , Legal , IT Services and Safety & Security at all locations making it conducive to learning. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce from RDVV University, Jabalpur. He has various certifications in Accounting Management, Leadership Skills, Facility Management Program, Effective Personal Productivity etc. His motto is ‘Service With Smile’.

Melanie Britto

Head of HR

“As the Head of HR at Neev, I am committed to creating an engaging and challenging work environment where all staff have a child centric approach and are sensitive to the needs of the student community”.

Ms. Melanie Britto is a Post Graduate in Business Management with a Specialization in Human Resources. She has worked in the corporate world and in the field of Management Education for over 12 years. She joined Neev Trust as the Head of Human Resources in March 2017.

Dr. Aloha Lavina

Head of School

“Education is a human endeavour of great optimism. Schools are charged with facilitating transformative experiences towards a shared future. To achieve our moral purpose, all people who belong to a school—young and adult—come to school to learn.”

Aloha is an active IB Educator, serving various roles as a workshop leader, school visit leader and consultant. She has taught Languages A and B in Diploma, Language and literature in MYP, and has coordinated the MYP. She has experienced whole-school curriculum leadership working with PYP, MYP and DP as Director of Curriculum and Instruction. Interested in the human dimensions of education in creating cultures of learning, Aloha completed her research into the effects of Cognitive Coaching SM on professional learning in an IB school, which helped her earn a Doctorate with Nova Southeastern University, Florida. Aloha has been a Principal at schools in Asia and Europe before joining the Neev Academy community.

Aparna Singh

Head of Enrolment and Parent Engagement

“Our teaching philosophy aims at helping students deal with rigor and learning to collaborate, discovering a lifelong love of learning. This innovative program is grounded in contemporary educational research, through individualized education enabling academic excellence and confidence in students. Our leaders of tomorrow deserve to be on an equal footing in the global sphere. The role also allows me to use my people skills to understand the feedback, concerns and suggestions of parents and help build the trust to strengthen their belief and trust in the philosophy of the institution".

Ms. Aparna Singh holds a degree in Early Childhood Education and Family Studies from MSU (Vadodara) . She has also done her graduation in Journalism and Mass Communication . She started her career with teaching the primary grades in an international school in Singapore. Moving back to India, she continued teaching in another IB school. For a few years where she co-founded a company with a friend and ran it successfully for over 6 years managing the operations of the company. She found her calling back in the field of education but this time around it was in an administrative role as ‘Head of Administration’ in an international school. She joined Neev in 2015 where she now Heads the Enrolment and Parent engagement team utilizing her experience in teaching, administration and native linguistic skills to communicate the vision, mission and philosophy of the organization in the process of student enrolment and engagement with parents.

Swapnili Tewari

Head of Finance

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” – Nelson Mandela

“I believe education holds the key to transform our ancient society into knowledge based society, ushering fourth industrial revolution, channelizing energies, unlocking potential and realizing dreams of our burgeoning, teaming young masses. Neev is a sincere, whole-hearted endeavour to bring around change towards better future and I am honoured and excited to be a part of it. ”

Swapnili Tewari has joined as Head of Finance. She has an extensive experience with multinational organizations in India, Middle East and North Africa with cross sector experience in FMCG, logistics and real-estate. She is a Commerce Graduate and a Chartered Accountant. She is also a mother, spouse, daughter and eco-conscious member of the society.

Umar Jaffar

Advisor

“As John F Kennedy states, “Liberty without Learning is always in peril and Learning without Liberty is always in vain.” Curriculum cannot be implemented only within the four walls of the classroom; indeed it is only when students are engaged in activities like community service, hands on experimentation, leadership camps, student exchange programs, sports or even travel, amongst many others can learning truly be accomplished. Schooling must not be focused on acquiring knowledge alone, but in fact must encompass the development of self and individual integrity; thus, espouses what Mark Twain once said, “I never let my schooling interfere with my education.” While one must give due importance to examinations and results, that should not become the sole aim of schooling; in that when learning is right, the results will also be right.”

Mr Jaffar has 30 years of experience in education and 18 years of IB experience as a Teacher, Coordinator, Principal of Section, Head of School and IB Team Leader of Examiners for Authorization and Evaluation of IB Accreditation of Schools. Though he is a post graduate and research scholar in mathematics, Mr. Jaffar’s love for learning, academics and education in general, converged into teaching. And therefore, he started his career as a teacher at Good Shepherd International School, Ooty, and The Lawrence School, Lovedale and He swiftly created a niche for himself as an excellent teacher, allowing him to scale greater heights professionally. He soon became the IB Diploma Coordinator in The International School Bangalore, and later the Deputy Head and IB Diploma Program Coordinator at Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Mumbai. Next he became the Principal of Indus International School, Hyderabad and finally, before joining SREI Foundation, he was Principal, Senior School of Pathways School, Noida. Since he has extensive and rich knowledge of both national and international curricula such as the IB and IGCSE, he is not only an IB Examiner, but also frequently leads IB Teams during the processes of consultation, authorization and evaluation of IB schools.

As the Head of Schools Division, at SREI Foundation, Mr. Jaffar set up schools in West Bengal. He has been the Director of Eastern Public School Bhopal – A full fledged IB School, that perhaps offers IB programmes at the lowest fee in the world. He has set up systems and processes here, in the previous 4 years. Mr. Jaffar joins Neev as Advisor – Diploma Programme since Feb 2019.